Karunanidhi: The prophet who rewrote Tamil Nadu's political script

The article was first published in THE WEEK on November 16, 2014

The young, fiery orator rushed out of his house in Thiruvarur to bring Dr Vadivelu to his father, Muthuvel, who was on his deathbed. The doctor was addressing a Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam rally. On seeing the young orator, the doctor announced, “Karunanidhi will now address you.”

Helpless, the young man climbed up the stage and delivered an inspiring speech. When he stepped off the stage, his friend Thenan was waiting with the sad news.

In his autobiography, Nenjukku Neethi, M. Karunanidhi wrote: “My [first] wife and I stayed at a house in Singanallur near Kovai; the rent was ten rupees. My father, who was living in Thiruvarur, grew worse. Padma and I rushed there. Father was struggling for his life. Our family was unable to give him top class treatment. Only local treatment was done. There was no other way left. For nearly 15 days, death hovered over father. Mother and I were seated next to him.

Father, who yearned to see my progress, shed tears. He could not speak much. 'Have you completed the next story?' he asked softly. 'A little more is left', I replied. He said, ‘I’ll be finishing mine now'.

Even in the grip of death, his natural literary wit was intact. A month before his death he said he wished to see the newly released movie, Rajakumari. He had lost his eyesight by then. But, he was keen to hear the dialogues penned by me and did so at a theatre in Thiruvarur. He was so delighted to see me grow as a writer.”

Six decades later, as chief minister of Tamil Nadu for the fifth time, Karunanidhi grieved over his children. He rushed to Tihar Jail to visit daughter Kanimozhi. His last term (2006-2011) was a rough ride on many counts. He was not in the pink and his family was rocked by infighting and scandals. In 2011, Tamil Nadu rejected the DMK; it got only the third spot. Political foresight and literary genius powered Karunanidhi's career.

In 1952, he wrote the screenplay and dialogues for the iconic Parasakthi. The movie opened with a monologue bewailing the plight of Tamils who had to migrate because of poverty at home. Parasakthi powered the DMK’s victory in 1967.

Karunanidhi was born into an Isai Velalar family on June 3, 1924, in Tirukuvalai near Thiruvarur. Muthuvel was a scholar and Anjugam, Karunanidhi's mother, was a homemaker. “I was not the pet child of an affluent home. I was born of an ordinary peasant stock, in a little village,” Karunanidhi wrote in his autobiography. He was not interested in school, but in drama, poetry and Tamil literature. He was 13 when he was attracted by the work of Alagirisami, a leader of the Justice Party. Karunanidhi formed a small reformist and literary association called Sangam. Later, he was disappointed by the direction it took, broke away and launched Tamil Manavar Manram, which also published a daily, Murasoli. It is now the DMK’s mouthpiece.

Karunanidhi's mentor C.N. Annadurai once gifted him a gold ring in appreciation of his political acumen. Known once for his ultra-critical stand against the Congress, Karunanidhi later steered the DMK into the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance and reaped gains. He endured when M.G. Ramachandran broke away from the party in the 1970s and when Vaiko broke away in the 1990s. In the last decade of his life, Kalaignar had to battle problems closer to home. He moved in a wheelchair. His sons M.K. Alagiri and M.K. Stalin were locked in a succession battle. Kanimozhi was battling the 2G spectrum scam. So were grandnephews Dayanidhi Maran and Kalanithi Maran.

And, the party was decimated in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

When the DMK was an infant, Karunanidhi designed its flag—black with a red circle. DMK cadre believe that Karunanidhi painted the red with his blood.